


How I Met Your Uncle

by siephilde42



Series: Siephilde's Rainbow Wings [11]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean and Cas tell their love story, Don't copy to another site, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28432512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siephilde42/pseuds/siephilde42
Summary: During a family gathering, Bobby Lechester asks Dean and Cas how they met and fell in love, and they tell him.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Series: Siephilde's Rainbow Wings [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028029
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	How I Met Your Uncle

"Uncle Dean, Uncle Cas, please tell me how you two met", Bobby begs.

"Again?", Dean asks, his expression amused.

"Yes, please."

Dean chuckles. "All right." He waves at Eileen. "Eileen, could you take over the BBQ?"

"Sure thing", she replies, coming over to take the tongs from him. "What, did Bobby ask for the story again?", she asks with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah", Dean confirms."He's a bit obsessed with it."

"To be fair, it is a _good_ story."

"Sweetheart, come over here. The boy wants to hear our story again", Dean calls out to Cas, who is sitting at the table with Sam. 

"How many times does this make?", Cas asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Lost count, to be honest. Come on, move your ass over here, angel." Dean turns towards Eileen again. "Eileen, please don't give Miracle any of the meat. ... At least, not too much."

Eileen gives him a thumbs-up, while Cas stands up and approaches Dean and Bobby. 

"Let's sit down at the shore?", Dean asks.

Bobby nods, and Cas agrees "Sure, why not?"

So they sit down, looking out over the water.

"You want to start or should I?", Dean asks.

"I started last time. It's your turn."

"So... You know how it started. Your badass uncle gripped me tight and raised me from perdition." He points at his shoulder. "Leaving a big, fat, mark right there. Not so subtle."

"That was not...", Cas protests. 

"Not intentional. I know, right." He smirks. "You know, at first, I was _terrified._ I didn't have any clue what had pulled me out of Hell and why. I... I thought it was probably something evil, especially with what happened with Cassandra and with all the bursting windows. Way to make a first impression, buddy."

"And then you tried to kill him in that barn", Bobby comments.

"Yeah. Yes. Together with your namesake. Bullets, knife. Nothing making a dent. Wait, I literally stabbed you in the heart when we first met. Tell about foreshadowing."

At this, Cas laughs. "Indeed."

"And then you _showed off._ Big time. You know, you're quite a melodramatic motherf-" He catches himself at the last moment, grins.

"But you didn't fall in love right away?", Bobby asks, despite already knowing the answer.

"Uh... No." Dean shakes his head. "I... I think I was quick to open up to him, but falling in love... That came later."

"That I threatened to drag you back into Hell if you did not comply probably did not help much, either", Cas remarks, ruefully. "I wish..."

Dean shrugs it off. "Yeah, well. Yesterday's news." He continues. "Uh, I'm afraid, at first we mostly searched Cas out because we needed his powers and such. I'm not sure when exactly this changed. I... uh..."

"I suspect it was actually around the time I betrayed you and Sam", Cas says, quietly. "You were trying to be so loyal."

"Yeah, probably. It... it hurt like shit."

"I know."

"And then you had to make it _worse_ by dying. Frigging roller coaster." 

"Sam told me much later that you picked up the trenchcoat and folded it. Like... Like they do with flags at funerals."

"Heh." Dean chuckles. "Yes. I did that."

"Of course, when you found me again, you were mostly preoccupied with Sam."

"Shouldn't have treated you like that, though", Dean mutters. "I'm not proud of saying that I... didn't care you were broken."

"Well, Sam's predicament was my fault. I suppose I did deserve that treatment, after all."

"Let's not got there. Then... oh boy..."

"Then I left your side in Purgatory without even explaining to you why. Of course, it was to protect you, but... I should have explained."

"Yeah, you should have." Dean shakes his head. "You should have let me know that you were fine."

"I am sorry. I did not dare to approach you, for fear of attracting the creatures." Cas voice is somewhat shaky. "You know, I... I was so scared that one night, there would be no prayer from you. Because that would have meant you were..."

"I was so happy when I found you. So relieved. And then... you _stayed_ there. Do you know how big an idiot you are?"

"By now, yes. I am sorry."

Dean huffs out a laugh. "I... I thought I was losing my mind when I started seeing you everywhere. Christ, you almost gave me a heart attack when you appeared in that mirror."

"Yes. And then... I tried to kill you."

Dean shakes his head. " _Naomi_ tried to kill me. You resisted."

"Didn't she make you practice by killing all those fake Deans?", Bobby asks.

Cas shudders at recalling. "Yes. She... she did that."

"And she _miscalculated_. When it came to the real thing, you still wouldn't", the boy remembers.

Dean's mind is already elsewhere. "Steve", he chuckles. "Now, that was a thing. I... I regret we didn't spend more time together when you were human. I... You know, throwing you out of the bunker back then was maybe the hardest thing I ever had to do. Or thought I had to do."

"You thought you were doing the right thing", Cas reminds him.

Dean scoffs. "Didn't help Kevin much in the end. And I hurt you. ... I liked that one hunt with you as Steve, though. Very memorable."

Cas smiles. "Yes."

"And then... Oh no." Dean breaks off. "The mark."

"Well, look at it like this. Even with the mark screaming at you to do it, you did not kill me."

"By a hair", Dean mutters, recalling the sight he saw in the mirror back then. He forces himself to smile. "Anyway. On to Amara. And..." He cannot bring himself to say Lucifer's name.

The boy throws in another question. "Did you love her?"

"Nah. I was attracted to her, but... No. And in hindsight... I think she actually _knew._ What with her 'cloaked in shame'-speech and all. Maybe this is why she didn't kill you." He looks at Cas.

"Who knows." Cas shrugs.

"Uh. This whole business... You really shouldn't have..."

"I know. I know. I never should have Lucifer let do it." 

"It was... Realizing you had been possessed, it was... like someone had pulled away the rug under me. I..."

"Believe me, I _know_ ", Cas says, softly.

"You offered to go with me", Dean remembers. "You actually would have come along to die together with me if I had let you." He swallows. "I... I think almost losing you to Lucifer was a sort of catalyst. Not that I admitted to myself that my feelings were... you know, but... Afterwards, every time you did something stupid, I'd be terrified. And, uh..."

Trying to steer the dialogue into slightly lighter waters, Cas says "And the mixtape."

"Yeah, right." Dean laughs. "You... Say, did you really not know that you are supposed to keep these or did you just _pretend_?" Before Cas can answer, he holds up his hand and shakes his head. "No. Never mind. Don't answer that."

Bob chimes in. "Didn't your dad woo your mom with Zeppelin songs as well?"

"Yeah, he did. Not very subtle of me, I guess." Dean smiles at the memory. Some seconds later, his face falls. "Ah, shit. And then..."

"I died again."

"Yes. Even if I explicitly told you to _never do that again._... Idiot."

"I am sorry."

"You... You didn't even realize, did you? What difference it made. I... When you were gone, nothing seemed to matter anymore. And then you came back, and... It was like the sun had been blocked out and came back." He beams. "This might be my favorite memory with you, you know. You agreeing to wear this cowboy hat." He chuckles. "I, uh... I think, after that, I felt quite comfortable with my feelings for you for a while. Even without acknowledging what sort of feelings those were." He frowns. "I'm sorry if I don't make much sense."

"I understand", Cas says patiently. 

Dean halts. "I, uh... Bobby, I'd actually like to skip the next part. I..."

"I get it.", Cas cuts in. "You had certain expectations for me, and I failed those. I get it."

"Still, I shouldn't have told you you were dead to me. And let you leave. That was..."

"Dean. You eventually forgave me, remember."

Dean laughs, no humor in his voice. "Yeah. When I thought I had _lost you again._ It shouldn't have taken me that frigging long." He takes a deep breath. "To come back to your question, Bobby. I... I cannot say exactly when I fell in love with Cas, because that... that was a slow process. I cannot pinpoint when I began to have those feelings. However, I think the moment I realized these feelings could be romantic was this moment in Purgatory, when I thought I had lost him again. I... You know, if you had let me speak... I'm not sure, but, maybe..."

Cas just smiles, not saying anything.

"And then... And then, of course your long-ass, elaborate speech. Jesus. You know, I... At first, I actually didn't _understand._ I couldn't comprehend it. And then..." His voice breaks. "And then you were gone, and it was too late." For just a moment, Dean feels the despair as if it happened yesterday.

"Except that it wasn't", Bobby remarks. "You pulled him back."

"Yes. ... Poetic, isn't it? When we first met, you pulled me out of Hell. And over a decade later, I pulled you out of the Empty." He turns to Bobby, a grin on his face. "Anyway. This is how I met your Uncle Cas."

"Thank you for telling it again", Bobby says.

"Anytime", Dean replies.

"I'm going to get some food", the boy says, jumping up.

Cas is still looking out on the water, and Dean takes a moment to contemplate his profile. His angel is older now, of course, but still beautiful, not to say devastatingly handsome. "Hell of a story, isn't it, if you think about it?", he mumbles, not taking his eyes off Cas' face.

Facing Dean, Cas smiles. "It certainly is."

"Roller coaster", Dean mumbles.

"But we are here now", Cas reminds him, putting a hand on Dean's shoulder in his usual way.

"Yes. We are", Dean concurs with a smile, taking hold of the hand on his shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> I used this tumblr post as a guideline for the fic https://babygirl06301.tumblr.com/post/636455484989243392/when-did-dean-fall-in-love-with-cas
> 
> ================================================================
> 
> If you'd like to scream over Destiel, Saileen or the show in general with me, you can follow me under @loves_deancas on Twitter. (My other Twitter account @siephilde42 is mainly for Good-Omens related content.)


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